The Tomorrow People

This was the 3rd British SciFi series from the 70's/80's that we decided to introduce our daughter to during the Covid lockdowns via BritBox; although at the moment they only have the first 4 series rather than all 8.

This one is aimed more at the younger audiences than the other 2 (Blake's 7 and Sapphire & Steel) - and although I wasn't so keen on the 1st Series, it certainly seemed to find its feet after that, even although some of the plots do have the odd hole in them.

Despite being aimed at the younger audience we all enjoyed watching it - and I thought it was better than the attempted 2013 relaunch.

A really excellent series,it started off a bit shaky with the awful Kenny and the overacting Carol while Jon and Stephen were great from the start. Elisabeth brought some real acting to the show and the series really had some good stories especially "The Blue And The Green". I thought the introduction of Mike Hollaway as Mike Bell was good,he was a rebel and argued with Jon,which the others didn't do. The series got better with each season and it was always one of those shows that when it finished you thought Why? I highly recommend the DVD releases. "Castle of Fear" was a gem later on,loved the fact a Tomorrow person could create ghosts and even the Loch Ness Monster! I also really liked Hsui Tai,OK her English wasn't too strong but she was very sweet. I didn't enjoy the 90s remake,they should have watched the original,to see how to do a really good Sci-Fi show!

The late Philip Gilbert was great as the all knowing Bio computer Tim.

A British Sci-Fi children's Classic! Tomorrow people is the PRIME example of the "Golden Age" of British Children's television of the 70's. In 1973 Doctor Who was king and Thames Television decided to give the BBC a run for their money. The result was The Tomorrow People! Since this was produced in the 70's, the show is certainly dated along with campy special effects and wobbly sets (imagine Doctor Who on even a tighter budget!)but there is quite a charm to this series, and certainly will bring back alot of memories (especially those of us in the States who were early Nickelodeon viewers in the early 80's) Fortunately these episodes are being released on Region 0 DVD's in the U.K.! Not only is it great to have these episodes in good quality, but the fine folks at Big Finish Productions (who are also producing new Tomorrow People audio adventures with the original cast) have added recorded commentary from cast members including Nicholas Young (John), Peter Vaughan-Clarke (Steven), Philip Gilbert (Tim), Elizabeth Adare (Elizabeth) and conducted by Nicholas Briggs. The Commentary tracks are actually worth the price of the DVD alone! These give a FANTASTIC insight into the making of and behind the scenes stories. Many times they'll contribute their own comments about the scenes (ala MST3K) or even stray from the subject completely and will have you literally rolling on the floor with laughter! Highly amusing and recommended!

My memory of the show was completely buried from when I had seen it on Nickelodeon when I was a kid. Then I saw mention of it somewhere not long ago, and it all came rushing back to me, memories of what had been my favorite TV show at the time. That prompted some searching, and as a result, I am the proud owner of the first two seasons of The Tommorow People on DVD, which I ordered from Blackstar in the U.K. Watching it was quite an experience, being torn between thinking "this is so cheesy" and "this is absolutely brilliant". As I found watching the commentary, I wasn't the only one. Featuring Nicholas Young (John), Peter Vaughn-Clarke (Stephen), and Philip Gilbert (the voice of Tim), they made what I thought was going to be a technical commentary into a hilarious inside look at the making of the show, which they obviously thought was as cheesy and brilliant as I did. Everyone thinking of getting the DVD's should watch it. This is especially easy as the DVD's you order from the U.K. are Region 0, which means they can be watched all over the world (don't be fooled by blackstar.co.uk or amazon.co.uk when they mark them as Region 2 on the websites, they are all Region 0). Well worth the money for anyone who remembers the show and wants to take a stroll down memory lane.

The Tomorrow People debuted in March 1973 and was mean't to be an answer to the BBC's Doctor Who but curiously was shown on a Monday instead of Doctor Who's Saturday. It followed the adventures of several teenagers who were the first to gain telepathic powers in the next stages of human evolution. Nicholas Young was cast as John and remained with the series until it ended in 1979. Peter Vaughan Clarke was also one of the first to join the series as well as their computer Tim, voiced by the late Philip Gilbert. Elizabeth Adare joined in Season 2 and she was certainly one of the finest characters in the series alongside John. The show became very popular and ran for 6 years with eight series being produced and shown on ITV. The series certainly has it's classics and the writing by Roger Price (also the series creator) was alway's very good. Strong episodes include 'The Blue and the Green' and 'Vanishing Earth' but to me the ultimate classic is the 1978 two parter 'The Living Skins' (also Nicholas Young's favourite) featuring the Bulboids. To me this story had everything. Good humour, excellent (if funny) aliens, but more importantly despite this it was still very menacing something which I felt earlier stories never maintained. Later 'Tomorrow People' include, Andrew Forbes, Mike (played by Flintlock Drummer Mike Holoway) and Hsui Tai (she tried bless her!) and the series went out on a high in 1979 with 'War of the Empires'. The Tomorrow People remains a science fiction classic which came number 8 of the top ten sci-fi programme on Channel4 in 2001. The series really disappeared apart from some video releases in 1991 until 2001 when DVD releases of the series began to be produced by Revelation films. The commentaries are truly excellent with the wonderfully cynical Nicholas Young providing a lot of laughs. Big Finish productions are now also making new 'Tomorrow People' audio dramas. In conclusion, although 'The Tomorrow People' was sometimes quite shallow and certainly not a patch on Doctor Who it did provide science fiction thirsty children with some excellent stories and perhaps more importantly a good laugh! The show was packed full of humour throughout it's six year run. Certainly a good series, and one among the science fiction greats.